Vocabulary

Profligacy

Meaning : wasteful or immoral behavior

Example : Letting the lights on when nobody’s in the room is a profligacy action.

Inept

Meaning : having or showing no skill

Example : The way she guided us yesterday proves that she is inept in handling a trip.

Lament

Meaning : express regret towards something

Example : The lyric in his new song shows lament and sorrow.

Sparse

Meaning : thin, not thick

Example : My country has areas with sparse population

Viable

Meaning : workable

Example : the proposed investment was economically viable.

Vocabulary

Venerable

Meaning : worthy of respect

Example : Nelson Mandela was a venerable statesman.

Supercilious

Meaning : arrogant

Example : She was the most supercilious maid we ever had.

Stringent

Meaning : strict

Example : California’s air pollution guidelines are stringent.

Intricate

Meaning : complicated

Example : The work is intricate as we need to deal with different people at one time.

Prudence

Meaning : wisdom, caution  

Example : We need to exercise prudence in such important matters.

Vocabulary Enrichment

Ambivalent

Meaning : unable to decide

Example : Some loved her, some hated her, and I am ambivalent about her.

Anomalous

Meaning : odd, not fitting the pattern

Example : Your sentences are grammatically anomalous 

Cryptic

Meaning : having a meaning that is mysterious or obscure

Example : He found his boss’s word too cryptic.

Derivative

Meaning : unoriginal

Example : His essay was derivative from John Green’s book.

Derail

Meaning : cause (a train or trolley car) to leave its track accidentally

Example : A train was derailed from its track after it collided with another train.

Vocabulary Enrichment

Dismantle

Meaning : to take something to pieces, to separate something into parts it is made from

Example : The photographer dismantled his equipment and packed away.

Dismal

Meaning : causing or showing sadness

Example : The surrounding was dismal during her funeral.

Implore

Meaning : to ask somebody with great emotion to do something

Example : She implored him not to leave her alone.

Thorough

Meaning : careful and complete

Example : The police made a thorough research of the house.

Thrift

Meaning : the quality of being careful not to spend too much money

Example : My mom is thrifty, she will not spend her money on something unnecessary.

Debate

       This week, we had a debate tournament among the MADPP students. It was a great experience as I have never been into an English debate before. I used to represent my MRSM in Malay debate but seriously, Malay and English debate are so different. Especially on the motions, English debate seems to have a more general and loose motions whereas Malay debate’s motions are usually more serious. And a non-native speaker, sometimes I think it’s hard to speak out everything in my mind. Sometimes I was like “ the points are here in my head, how can I express them orally? XD *need to speak English more in order to be really fluent in speaking.

      So, along the tournament, I have learnt many things from Miss Jo, my teammates ( Emily and Azrul), and others (including the internet hehe)

1. Points are very important

      I can say it’s almost useless if we can only speak fluently, confidently but we have no good point. We may look convincing from the style, but the judges judge more on the points given. Plus, the way we elaborate our points and how we connect our points to the motion are very essential in order to give a clear view to the audience and the judges. It is a bonus to have supportive evidence from pass research or history but we really need to make sure they fit the context, or else, they are going to kill our points. 

    2. See something from different perspective

      Sometimes we don’t see the good sides of everything. But in a debate, sometimes we need to oppose something that we really believe in. By hook or by crook, we need to find points to oppose the motion. Then only will we discover that there are some really good points, we just did not look at different perspective. So, debate really enhances us to be more open minded and see things in different ways. To apply in life, sometimes we need to choose something that we do not like in life, but believe me, there are good sides in everything so think positive and accept the challenge!

    3. To be a good listener and a good speaker

      Debate is not only about speaking to defend our stand. Debate is also about to rebut the points given by the other team. That is why we need to be a good listener too. In order to rebut our rival, we cannot simply accuse them blindly. By rebutting with facts or others, we can have a healthy debate,not an emotional one. Debate also teaches us to be more patience in expressing our idea so that we look more professional and educated.

     I really hope I can learn more about the ways and strategies to win in a debate. At least, this can be a stepping stone for me to be a good English debater in the future. Till then, goodnight!

Vocabulary Enrichment

Seep

Meaning : to flow very slowly through something

Example : Water started to seep in through small cracks.

Susceptible

Meaning : easily influenced. damaged, or affected by something

Example : The young are susceptible to advertising.

Fathom

Meaning : to understand something (negative connotation)

Example : I can’t fathom what he said just now.

Hurtle

Meaning : to move with great speed, perhaps causing danger

Example : The lorry came hurtling towards us

Reconcile

Meaning : to find a way of dealing with two ideas, situations, statements, etc

Example : She finds it difficult to reconcile her career ambitions with her responsibilities to her children.

Fun Ride Tasik Raban! :D

Fun Ride Tasik Raban

On 13th November 2016, me and my 9 other friends participated in Fun Ride Tasik Raban. At first, I have doubt in entering this ride because I think sleeping on the weekend is way more interesting than letting myself burn under the sun. Unfortunately, Ayda managed to convince me to join this and there I was, cycling :P

Before Fun Ride

Around 7 am, we cycle from KKTM Lenggong to Tasik Raban. Actually, I have no experience in cycling a mountain bike before, I just learned about the gears and so on that morning from a 9-year-old boy hahaha. I set a target for myself that morning because I know I will not manage to finish all 45 km. My goal was to cycle 30 km ( because we pay RM30 for the registration  ) so whatever happens, I will make sure I (at least) achieve my target!

The ride was fun even though I was half dead. I managed to cycle about 32 km ( the rest, I was on the lorry hahahah). Thanks to Naz, who motivated me during the ride (especially when it came to cycling uphill ). If Naz wasn’t there giving me support, I think I would have given up earlier. However, I asked Naz to go first as I was so slow and nearly die. :P

After Naz left me, I cycled alone (in a rural place, no house, no shop, just trees) and as an over think person, I imagined many negative things huhu. I thought if a thief comes out from the bush and try to rob me what should I do? I only have RM 15 that time and it’s not worth at all to rob me ;D Suddenly, someone sneezed. I was so shock hahaha but nothing happened, I think maybe there was someone in the wood.

As I continue cycling, a cyclist from Taiping greeted me and cycled with me. We had some simple chat before he went to other kids and give support to them. His friend, who is also from Taiping, was so generous! He cycled back and forth just to motivate and help the kids cycle faster by pushing them from the back. I was so touched by his action because he did not think about winning or losing,he just wanted to help the novice in to be more interested in cycling.

There was one point that I felt like giving up so, me and KC stopped with some other kids, waiting for the lorry. The, a volunteer came and said we were about 1 to 2 km to the finishing line. Suddenly I have the energy to cycle again. Plus,  I encouraged the kids to finish the 2 km too. I was like “ Let’s go 2 km left we can do this I have faith in you guys blablabla” . Then,after cycling about 5 km, we did not even reach Pekan Lenggong. As I did not live in Lenggong, I'm not too familiar with the names of the villages. So, when I see Kg Gelok, Kg Gua Badak and so on, I actually have no idea where I was and how far was Tasik Raban from that Kampung. So I keep cycling until Pekan Lenngong.

I saw another volunteer and asked him “ Is Tasik Raban still far? “ and he said about 15 km.  I was demotivated by the statement and realized that I have been fooled by others hahahahaha. But thanks to them, at least they have boosted my spirit to cycle on the first place. So, I stopped by a shop and bought some water for myself and the kids. And there I was, on the lorry with the kids that I have motivated before hahahahahahah XD 

Still remember the kid that taught me about the gears before the ride? He waited for me and saw me on the lorry. He came to me and said “ Ahahaha naik lori?” T_T hahaha what a shame to lose over a small kid. Anyway, I was so happy to be able to spend the weekend productively!

After Fun Ride :)